The most dangerous Airport in the world

FloridaPilot

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Family time with Discovery channel and I saw a list of the most dangerous Airports in the world. Lukla Airport, in the middle of the Himalayan mountains they say is the most. 1,600 Foot Runway with a wall at the end of the runway, 2,000 foot drop and 9,600 feet above sea level.

How many of you folks would try it?


I don't think I would...I'm too chicken!!

 
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I would land there but I would not take back off.
 
Family time with Discovery channel and I saw a list of the most dangerous Airports in the world. Lukla Airport, in the middle of the Himalayan mountains they say is the most. 1,600 Foot Runway with a wall at the end of the runway, 2,000 foot drop and 9,600 feet above sea level.

How many of you folks would try it?


I don't think I would...I'm too chicken!!


Fixed the URL

Edit: and after getting more info from the video, I would not land there. Yikes!
 
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The slope and the drop (minus the altitude) make it a piece of cake for a lot of aircraft on many days. You'd be amazed what you can do with a well sloped runway.

Beats climbing that mountain that have near by!
 
F*** it! Let's go!!!
 
Sure, the 'kota could do it if kept light and in cool weather. Say thirty gallons of gas (about half tanks) and 40" of manifold pressure = yeehaw!

I have taxied half the runway length at Leadville but that was full tanks and Mari on board.
 
I'd land there no problem...in a helicopter. :D
 
Family time with Discovery channel and I saw a list of the most dangerous Airports in the world. Lukla Airport, in the middle of the Himalayan mountains they say is the most. 1,600 Foot Runway with a wall at the end of the runway, 2,000 foot drop and 9,600 feet above sea level.

How many of you folks would try it?


I don't think I would...I'm too chicken!!


The "wall" as you call it at the end of the runway is simply an older version of a an aircraft emergency stopping system. :D It is there only to keep the aircraft from overshooting the end of the runway. No big deal. :yikes:

Today they simply use concrete on the ground that breaks up and the aircraft sinks into.

David
 
So, why is San Diego's Lindbergh (KSAN) the 10th "MOST DANGEROUS AIRPORT IN THE WORLD"? :dunno::hairraise:

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I would try it without question in the 208B



Edit: and probably crash.
 
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So, why is San Diego's Lindbergh (KSAN) the 10th "MOST DANGEROUS AIRPORT IN THE WORLD"? :dunno::hairraise:
Mainstream lay media thinks that an airport with a single runway, no precision approach into the prevailing wind, sloping terrain below, and office buildings off to the left, is a recipe for disaster.

:rolleyes: :yikes:

If I remember correctly, there is a fairly tall building on the approach path to a runway there.
Actually, just a five-story parking garage.

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Kandahar or Bagram airfield have to be top 10. It is astonishing that there isn't a midair per day there.
 
Kandahar or Bagram airfield have to be top 10. It is astonishing that there isn't a midair per day there.

You got that right. I'd add Kabul to that group. Pure luck...and pilots with good SA have prevented midairs in those areas. Heavy traffic and varying degrees of controller / pilot experience. A recipe for disaster.
 
Well we are talking about the Discovery Channel here so I'd say that although Lukla might be the most spectacularly frightening looking airport there is no data to support the contention that it is the most dangerous airport in the world. For one thing nobody flies in or out of there unless the weather is perfect and the pilots know the specific routine for safe operations there. I don't think you'll find many low time thrill seeking bush pilot wannabes flying in and out of there.

After watching that four part series titled "The Worst Place to be a Pilot" I'd say there are a lot of gnarlier strips in Indonesia and other remote areas of the world that are probably more "dangerous"
 
You got that right. I'd add Kabul to that group. Pure luck...and pilots with good SA have prevented midairs in those areas. Heavy traffic and varying degrees of controller / pilot experience. A recipe for disaster.

Pilots that don't really speak English and no possible reprimand for disobeying controllers really adds to the fun.
 
Not for me the video is thrilling enough.
 
What kind of plane would you use?

Any turbocharged or turbine twin. Even my turboed Travel Air would have been ok, I had it higher than Everest, and it is considerably lower there. It performed around the Rockies just fine, but I'd prefer bigger engines.
 
If I remember correctly, there is a fairly tall building on the approach path to a runway there.

David

The Laurel Street parking garage, yeah it is likely one of if not the closest approaches to an obstruction in the US. There's really plenty of room and it is well below 'minimums' so it's a visual segment hazard only. If you have to go missed, you will never get close.
 
The Laurel Street parking garage, yeah it is likely one of if not the closest approaches to an obstruction in the US. There's really plenty of room and it is well below 'minimums' so it's a visual segment hazard only. If you have to go missed, you will never get close.

It's still kinda scary to read license plates from the window of a 737.

Kinda makes you wonder who got paid to permit that.
 
It's still kinda scary to read license plates from the window of a 737.

Kinda makes you wonder who got paid to permit that.

I think Telluride in Colorado is much more dangerous (KTEX).
 
The backcountry in Idaho has the narliest charted airstrips around. Mile High usually gets the nod as the most difficult. Alaska has some spectacular ones but they usually aren't charted, pilots just land there...
 
Sure, the 'kota could do it if kept light and in cool weather. Say thirty gallons of gas (about half tanks) and 40" of manifold pressure = yeehaw!

I have taxied half the runway length at Leadville but that was full tanks and Mari on board.
I should have put my feet down and run like in a Flintstone car...
 
What's the deal? I have seen gnarly misspelled twice this week, I probably haven't heard the term since the 80s. :rofl:
 
The backcountry in Idaho has the narliest charted airstrips around. Mile High usually gets the nod as the most difficult. Alaska has some spectacular ones but they usually aren't charted, pilots just land there...
Mile Hi (below) is probably the most dramatic, but I don't think it's the most difficult or dangerous. I haven't landed there, but I did do a practice low approach. There are a lot of airstrips in the area where I wouldn't even do that.

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